Snooker scores LIVE: Mark Williams suffers early British Open exit after O'Sullivan twist
Express Sport keeps you up to date with the latest news and developments from the British Open.
A star-studded snooker field has descended on Cheltenham to contest the British Open this week. Action gets underway today with a number of big names in action including Kyren Wilson, Judd Trump and defending champion Mark Williams. Ronnie O'Sullivan was also set to turn out but the Rocket has withdrawn at short notice.
Snooker fans have hardly had a chance to draw breath since Neil Robertson's win over Wu Yize in the English Open final on Sunday, netting him a handsome £100,000 top prize. Another £100k will be dished out to whichever player prevails in the British Open finale this coming Sunday.
With plenty to keep on top of, follow Express Sport's live snooker updates below...
KEY EVENTS
Gong Chenzhi beats Tom Ford
Chinese rookie Gong Chenzhi has joined Rory Thor in the second round after edging Tom Ford 4-3 in a seven-frame thriller.
Latest scores:
Ding Junhui 3-3 Aaron Hill
Gary Wilson 2-3 Mark Allen
Robert Milkins 0-2 Judd Trump
Mark Williams crashes out
Reigning British Open champion Mark Williams is out!
Malaysia's Rory Thor produces a fantastic showing to beat Williams 4-1 in the first round.
However, the latter was nowhere near his best, and Stephen Hendry believes his decision to switch cues wasn't a wise one.
"It was a very, very poor performance," Hendry said. "He's using a new cue. I hope he was paid nicely because it's going to derail his season. It sounded horrific and his play was horrific. It was very bad."
First-round matches finely poised
Mark Williams has set about fighting back against Rory Thor, while the other three matches are also heating up, with Mark Allen pegged back agianst Gary Wilson.
Remember, it's first to four frames in all of the following...
Latest scores:
Chenzhi 2-2 Ford
Ding 2-2 Hill
Williams 1-3 Thor
Wilson 2-2 Allen
Williams on the brink
Mark Williams has now fallen three frames behind Rory Thor in their first-round match, with the Welshman's title defence on the brink of falling apart.
Latest scores:
Chenzhi 2-0 Ford
Ding 2-1 Hill
Williams 0-3 Thor
Wilson 1-2 Allen
Mark Williams in need of comeback
Mark Williams is now two frames down against Rory Thor and going down a third could leave the defending champion with too much to do.
Elsewhere, Gary Wilson has just pulled one back against Mark Allen.
Latest scores:
Chenzhi 1-0 Ford
Ding 2-0 Hill
Williams 0-2 Thor
Wilson 1-2 Allen
Allen forges ahead, Williams falls behind
Gary Wilson had his chances in a tight opening frame against Mark Allen but he didn't take them, and the world No 3 has taken a 1-0 lead in their first-to-four-frame contest.
Elsewhere, Mark Williams has fallen behind against Malaysian competitor Rory Thor.
And Ding Junhui is already two frames to the good against Aaron Hill.
Latest scores:
Williams 0-1 Thor
Ding 2-0 Hill
Chenzhi 0-0 Ford
Wilson 0-1 Allen
British Open prize money
Just over half a million pounds is on offer at the British Open this week, where reigning champion Mark Williams will bid to defend his crown.
Here is how it will be divided up...
First round: £3,000
Second round: £6,000
Last 16: £9,000
Quarter-finals: £12,000
Semi-finals: £20,000
Runner-up: £45,000
Winner: £100,000
Highest break: £5,000
Today's schedule
It's going to be a jam-packed day of British Open snooker action, and here are the matches fans can sink their teeth into...
1pm (BST)
Mark Williams vs Rory Thor
Gary Wilson vs Mark Allen
Ding Jinhui vs Aaron Hill
Gong Chenzhi vs Tom Ford
2pm
Luca Brecel vs Mohamed Shehab
Robert Milkins vs Judd Trump
Ross Muir vs John Higgins
Ryan Day vs Louis Heathcote
7pm
Barry Hawkins vs Liam Davies
Shaun Murphy vs Ian Burns
Lewis Ullah vs Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Ross Muir vs John Higgins
8pm
Pang Junxu vs Mark Selby
Kyren Wilson vs Julien Leclercq
Jordan Brown vs Zhang Anda
Sanderson Lam vs Jak Jones
Ronnie O'Sullivan withdraws
Ronnie O'Sullivan was set to be the main attraction in Cheltenham this week, but fans were disappointed to learn that the Rocket has pulled out of his match with Manasawin Phetmalaikul on the day it was scheduled to take place.
O'Sullivan has only once competed at the British Open since it was reintroduced to the snooker calendar in 2021.
His next tournament will be the Wuhan Open early next month.
Lewis Ullah has stapped in to take O'Sullivan's place at the British Open this week, and he will play Phetmalaikul later today.
Good afternoon!
Hello and welcome to Express Sport's Snooker scores LIVE!
British Open action is soon to get underway in Cheltenham, so don't go anywhere. We'll keep you up to date with all the most important bits as they unfold.